The Quincy Smelting Works is the last of the last, a lone remnant of an industrial juggernaut that once lined the Portage Waterway for miles. Like her shoreline brethren, the Quincy complex existed only to serve its copper masters, and when the copper empire died she died along with it. As time marched forward the sprawling industrial ruins around her were sacrificed to the region’s new master – tourism. The shoreline on which smelters, foundries, warehouses, and coal docks once stood were transformed to parks, boardwalks, and rows of townhouses. But through it all the Smelter has remained. Though battered and bruised and showing her age, the old gal continues to remind us all of the copper country’s rich industrial heritage.

Thanks to the Quincy Smelter Association (QSA), Franklin Township and the Keweenaw Historical Park (KHP), I was fortunate enough to partake in a rather detailed look at the Quincy Smelter site during a special two hour photo tour of the sprawling complex. During that tour I was allowed access to almost every building on site – both externally and internally. Utilizing the 500+ photos taken during that tour, along with dozens of maps, diagrams, building plans, and technical drawings available through the HAER online database I’ve put together the most comprehensive and in-depth exploration of the site available today – over 25 posts in all."